Mass surveillance

Part of a series on
Global surveillance
Disclosures
Systems
Selected agencies
Places
Laws
Proposed changes
Concepts
Related topics

Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens.[1] The surveillance is often carried out by local and federal governments or governmental organizations, but it may also be carried out by corporations (either on behalf of governments or at their own initiative). Depending on each nation's laws and judicial systems, the legality of and the permission required to engage in mass surveillance varies. It is the single most indicative distinguishing trait of totalitarian regimes. It is often distinguished from targeted surveillance.

Mass surveillance has often been cited[by whom?] as necessary to fight terrorism, prevent crime and social unrest, protect national security, and control the population. At the same time, mass surveillance has equally often been criticized for violating privacy rights, limiting civil and political rights and freedoms, and being illegal under some legal or constitutional systems.[2] Another criticism is that increasing mass surveillance could potentially lead to the development of a surveillance state, an electronic police state, or a totalitarian state wherein civil liberties are infringed or political dissent is undermined by COINTELPRO-like programs.[3]

In 2013, the practice of mass surveillance by world governments[4] was called into question after Edward Snowden's 2013 global surveillance disclosure on the practices by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States. Reporting based on documents Snowden leaked to various media outlets triggered a debate about civil liberties and the right to privacy in the Digital Age.[5] Mass surveillance is considered a global issue.[6][7][8][9] The Aerospace Corporation of the United States describes a near-future event, the GEOINT Singularity, in which everything on Earth will be monitored at all times, analyzed by artificial intelligence systems, and then redistributed and made available to the general public globally in real time.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Mass Surveillance". Privacy International. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. ^ Watt, Eliza (2 September 2017). "'The right to privacy and the future of mass surveillance'". The International Journal of Human Rights. 21 (7): 773–799. doi:10.1080/13642987.2017.1298091. ISSN 1364-2987. S2CID 148928418.
  3. ^ Giroux, Henry A. (2015). "Totalitarian Paranoia in the Post-Orwellian Surveillance State". Cultural Studies. 29 (2): 108–140. doi:10.1080/09502386.2014.917118. S2CID 143580193.
  4. ^ TATLOW, DIDI KIRSTEN (28 June 2013), U.S. Prism, Meet China's Golden Shield, [...] a Beijing lawyer named Xie Yanyi filed a public information request with the police asking about China's own surveillance operations. [...] 'Most people were critical about the U.S. and supported Snowden.' [he said...] Then the discussion started shifting to take in China's own surveillance issues.
  5. ^ Mark Hosenball and John Whitesides (7 June 2013). "Reports on surveillance of Americans fuel debate over privacy, security". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  6. ^ Kuehn, Kathleen (9 December 2016). The Post-Snowden Era: Mass Surveillance and Privacy in New Zealand. Bridget Williams Books. ISBN 9780908321087. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Snowden: Mass Surveillance Needs Global Solution". Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  8. ^ Lyon, David (19 October 2015). Surveillance After Snowden. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780745690889. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Towards a world without mass surveillance" (PDF). Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  10. ^ Vinci, Anthony (August 31, 2020). "The Coming Revolution in Intelligence Affairs: How Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Will Transform Espionage". Foreign Affairs. Vol. 99, no. 5. ISSN 0015-7120.
  11. ^ "The Future of Ubiquitous, Real-Time Intelligence – A GEOINT Singularity | Aerospace Center for Space Policy and Strategy". csps.aerospace.org. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.